This section is intended to provide a background or context to the invention that is recited in the claims. The description herein may include concepts that could be pursued, but are not necessarily ones that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, what is described in this section is not prior art to the description and claims in this application and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Various location protocols have been defined to locate, e.g., mobile phones or other cellular terminals. Each cellular system/mobile network-type generally utilizes its own location protocol. For example, a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) system can utilize a protocol referred to as Radio Resource Location Services Protocol (RRLP). Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) networks may use a protocol referred to as Radio Resource Control (RRC). CDMA networks may utilize a protocol referred to as Telecommunications Industry Association-801 (TIA-801).
In addition to these control plane protocols, the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) standardization organization has introduced a scheme which can be referred to as Secure User Plane Location (SUPL). SUPL can utilize user plane data bearers to provide for the transferring of location information. In addition, SUPL can utilize user plane data bearers to carry positioning technology-related protocols between an SUPL enabled terminal (SET) and a network in which the SET is operational. The location information can be utilized to compute the location of a SET.
Many of these protocols support what is commonly referred to as “triggered positioning” where, e.g., a location report is triggered based on some event. These events can be based on, e.g., timers, radio measurements, and/or user location. User location events generally fall into two categories. A first location event type includes scenarios when the location of a terminal has changed more than some predefined limit. Another type of location event can be associated with/related to some geographical area. These user location events are generally triggered when certain criteria related to an area event trigger is met, and various types of areas upon which an area event trigger is based can be defined. For example, user location events can be triggered, e.g., when a user moves in or out of some area, where areas can be represented by different shapes. The shapes conventionally utilized in various standards/protocols include, e.g., a circle (defined by a center point, coordinates, and radius), an ellipse (defined by a center, a semi-major axis, a semi-minor axis, and orientation), and a polygon (defined by coordinates of corner points of the polygon).
An area can also be defined by a group of predetermined portions of a larger geographical area, such as a certain number of blocks within a particular city. In addition, a trigger can be set to activate for a user either upon entering a particular area or upon leaving the particular area. Activation of a trigger, as discussed above, occurs when certain trigger-related criteria is fulfilled. Upon activation of the trigger, some other action or event is triggered. For example, triggered positioning can be used for launching a reminder to a user, e.g., upon entering department store, a notification reminding a user to buy a new umbrella is sent or shown to the user.
As described above, standards such as OMA SUPL enable a location server to define several types of area shapes (e.g., circles, ellipses, polygons) for a terminal to trigger area events. However, in conventional standards/protocols, there is no system or method that allows terminals to indicate what shapes it supports or what shapes would be preferred by the location server or the terminal. Moreover, the above standards/protocols do not address situations involving unspecified preferences. Furthermore, although the standards/protocols define certain area event parameters, the proper use of these area event parameters are not well defined.